Entries in Barbara Cook
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama thanked each of the five 2011 Kennedy Center Honorees for their contributions to the arts and congratulated them on a “lifetime of greatness” in a ceremony held Sunday in the East Room of the White House.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’re over the hill, it just means they’ve come a long way,” the president said. “At first glance, the men and women on this stage could not be more different -- they come from different generations, different walks of life … and yet, they belong here together because each of tonight’s honorees felt the need to express themselves and share that expression with the world.”

“Neil Diamond’s career began like so many others -- trying to impress a girl,” Obama said. “Now, Neil is the rare musician whose music can be heard everywhere from kids movies to Red Sox games.”

Speaking of Rollins, the president got a laugh describing the saxophone player’s hijinks as a teenager.

“When Sonny Rollins was growing up, his friends would sneak into clubs by drawing mustaches on their faces with eyebrow pencils,” Obama said with a chuckle. “Did that work?”

Obama noted that at age 15, Meryl Streep earned the role of Marian the Librarian in her high school’s production of The Music Man, the role fellow honoree Barbara Cook originated and for which she won a Tony Award.

“There’s a theme here,” Obama said.

And about White House frequenter Yo-Yo Ma, Obama joked that he was there so often, he needs his own room.